


Not a Mistake

by Madam_Prickly_Pear_620



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Abigail is stressed, Angst, Apologies, Childhood Trauma, Crying, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hosea is pissed, Jack is sad, John is dumb, One Shot, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:55:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26960251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madam_Prickly_Pear_620/pseuds/Madam_Prickly_Pear_620
Summary: John and Abigail are fighting yet again. Of course this is nothing new. The gang is usually good about protecting Jack from the horrible things his parents say.This time however, Jack overhears them and they realize the consequences of their words too late. How can they come back from calling their son a mistake right in front of him?Maybe this was the eye opener they needed to fix things.-Starts off real angsty but then turns to fluff-
Relationships: Abigail Roberts Marston/John Marston
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	Not a Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Well I took a break from my main fic "Daughter of Arthur Morgan" to write this sad, yet hopeful(?) one-shot. Enjoy! 
> 
> P.S. Any spelling or grammar mistakes are mine.

It was another typical day at Clemens Point. The gang was moving through their day just like the day before. Not a single thing out of the ordinary.

Including John and Abigail screaming at each other.

No one knows how the fight started, nor did they much care anymore. Their constant bickering had turned into background noise for most of the other gang members. Besides, they all knew how it would end. John would say something ridiculously stupid which would usually turn into Abigail storming away and leaving John with a hand shaped red mark across his face.

The other camp members did their best to shield Jack from the sight of his parents arguing. It was bad enough his own father denied him as his son on a daily basis. Even in her lowest moments Abigail also expressed how much she hates being a mother. At least she had decency not to say it front of Jack though.

On this particular day, during this particular fight, Tilly took it upon herself to keep the young boy distracted while his parents nearly mauled each other over the by the horses.

She had Jack sat next to her at a table while the boy made some drawings with some loose paper and a pencil.

He held his first one up proudly and told Tilly it was for Uncle Arthur because he found Jack a new thimble to give to his mama after he accidently lost hers.

“Well ain’t that sweet,” Tilly held the picture up to admire it. “I’m sure Arthur will love it.”

“Thanks Auntie Tilly! I wanna draw one for Ma and Pa now. They can share it and maybe it will make them not be mean to each other.”

Tilly gave the boy a sad look but he was too busy focusing on his drawing to notice. She felt so bad for the poor kid. Even though they all tried to shield him from the fighting he still knew what was going on. And he so desperately wanted it to stop.

She rubbed his back in comfort. “I think that’s a great idea Jack. I’m sure your Ma and Pa will appreciate it.”

He spent the next few minutes doodling on a new sheet paper. In the end, he had four stick figures. Two tall ones and one short one. Plus he had another figure that Tilly guessed was a horse.

“That’s lovely Jack. Who all you got on there?”

Jack beamed at her and pointed his tiny finger to each figure. “That’s Mama, that’s Pa, and that’s me!”

“And what about that?” Tilly asked pointing to the fourth figure.

“Oh, that’s Old Boy.”

Tilly smiled warmly at the fact that Jack even included John’s horse. She even offered to help him write their names above the figures so John and Abigail would know who’s who.

In the end, the names above the four figures read in messy child’s writing as: _Ma, Jack, Pa,_ and _Old Boy._

“Looks wonderful Jack,” Tilly praised.

Jack held it with both hands and smiled at his handiwork. He hoped more than ever that his Ma and Pa would like it too.

“Alright Jack, I gotta get back to my chores before Miss Grimshaw bites my head off. You know the rules right? Stay close to camp and don’t do anything that will get you in trouble with yer ma.”

Jack nodded his head and Tilly ruffled his hair before departing.

He looked around, wondering what he should do next. That’s when he noticed his parents standing together by the horses. He knew they were arguing earlier but they didn’t look to be fighting any more.

Still, he wasn’t sure if he should take the chance. He approached them once while they were fighting and Abigail angrily yelled at him to go away.

She apologized later and told him it was because she didn’t want him to hear their arguments. That they weren’t important anyway, but he knew that was a lie.

He looked down at his picture and decided he would give it to them now since they were both together. Maybe it would even get them to stop fighting, if that’s what they were doing.

He started walking towards them noticing that their faces didn’t look very happy. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to keep moving. His parents were too engrossed with their argument to see the small boy approaching.

He eventually reached them but stopped short at the base of a tree when he finally picked up on their angry words.

“What the hell do you want from me Abigail? I do everything you ask me to. I’m sick of your god damn nagging!”

Jack stood closer to the tree when he realized his parents were right in the middle of a serious argument. He was too scared to leave, thinking that any movement would immediately alert his parents to his presence and they would yell at him too.

“I want you to act like a father to our son John! I shouldn’t have to beg and nag you to take care of _your_ boy!” Abigail pleaded angrily with him.

John huffed. “So you say.”

Abigail threw her hands up angrily. “Damn it John! How many times I gotta explain to you that Jack is yours, huh? You was the only man I was with for two months before I realized I was pregnant with him. Quit acting like an idiot!”

Jack stood just a few feet away with tears gathering in his eyes. He hated seeing his parents fight. But what’s worse was his Pa flat out denying him as his son.

It all made Jack so confused. He remembered a few weeks ago at Horseshoe Overlook when he called John ‘Pa’ and his response was an annoyed, ‘What’d you call me?’

Jack brought it up to Abigail that night and all she did was sigh sadly and told him it was fine to call him ‘Pa’, because that’s what he was.

But, if that was true then why did John say that to him? He didn’t want to keep calling him that if John keeps getting mad at him for it.

He just didn’t understand any of it.

“You know fathering ain’t something I can do Abigail. And it ain’t something I ever want to do. So quit trying to make me into something I’m not!”

Abigail’s face morphed into pure fury. “Oh and you think I wanted to become a mother at 18 John? Give up my life, my dreams, to take care of a child in a gang of criminals. I wasn’t happy about it neither, but unlike you I didn’t have the luxury of running away from it. Like a damn coward!”

John breathed heavily in anger at Abigail’s words, clenching his fists tightly. Jack expected him to yell some more but instead his next words came out steady and low.

“You know, I think the worst mistake of my life was gettin’ you pregnant. Gettin’… _stuck_ with you like this.”

“Well at least there’s one thing we can agree on John Marston!”

Jack’s crying grew steadily throughout the fight but he tried to hold it in as much as possible so he wouldn’t make a noise.

Now however, he just heard his Pa call him a mistake. And his Ma agreed with him. The two people who he loved most in the world and who were supposed to love him back unconditionally, thought he was a _mistake_.

A small whimper made both John and Abigail whip their heads towards Jack’s direction.

Both of their hearts dropped immediately when they saw their son just a few feet away looking at them with tears streaming down his face. Painfully obvious he heard the whole thing.

Abigail’s hands flew to her mouth in shock as she whispered, “Oh my god…” as the realization hit her.

John let out a devastated, “No…” as he watched his son’s face crumple into pure anguish.

Jack dropped his now forgotten drawing in favor of rubbing the tears from his eyes as he ran far away from his parents. He could barely see through his blurry vision but once he laid his eyes on Hosea’s form he made a beeline for him. He threw himself into the surprised old man before letting out the most heart wrenching wails.

Hosea immediately picked up the inconsolable child with a worried face and held him tight through his sobs.

Jack’s cries could be heard loud and clear from where John and Abigail were. The sound of it was enough to bring Abigail to her knees as she choked out Jack’s name before breaking down into her own sobs.

John continued to look shocked as an overwhelming feeling of guilt dominated him. He looked at Jack whose small body violently shook with cries in Hosea’s arms, then down at Abigail who was also now sobbing on her knees.

His eyes then landed on the paper Jack dropped. He picked it up and turned it over and his heart shattered. Even he couldn’t stop the tears from falling as he looked down at the drawing of their broken little family.

“God dammit,” John choked out between tears as he slipped the paper into his jacket.

“Abi…” He approached the crying woman fully expecting her to lash out at him. For once she had every right to John thinks.

But she just continued sobbing into her hands.

John cautiously put a comforting hand on her shoulder and repeated, “Abi…?”

“He heard us John,” she finally hiccupped out as she struggled to talk through the sobs.

“He heard us,” she repeated. “He heard his Ma and Pa say they never wanted him. I…” she interrupted herself with her own sobs.

John didn’t know what to say. What could he say? There was nothing he could do to make this situation better. The damage was done and it was all his fault.

He wiped a few stray tears and squeezed Abigail’s shoulder. Then he looked back up towards their son. His eyes widened when he realized Hosea was staring daggers at John. John had never seen the man look that _furious_ before. At least not at one of his boys. No, that look was usually saved for their most hated enemies.

He was standing now with a still crying Jack held tight in his arms. He had a comforting hand held to the back of the boy’s head. John wondered how he could look so caring yet so _scary_ at the same time.

They met eyes and Hosea shook his head disapprovingly at him before turning and walking away with Jack.

John turned his attention back to Abigail. He bent down and tried lifting her up by her elbows.

“C’mon Ab, let’s…let’s go sit somewhere quiet.”

Abigail was still in the midst of sobbing her eyes out but didn’t fight John as he lifted her up.

“Wh-where’s Jack? Where’d my boy go? I gotta go see him.” Her eyes frantically searched around for her son.

“Don’t worry, Hosea’s got him. Probably took him somewhere to calm down. Which is what you should do. No use seeing him like this. Now c’mon.”

She allowed John to lead her to the edge of the water just outside of camp. He got her settled on a log and stood by her side as she slowly calmed down.

It was quiet for a while except for Abigail’s sniffles. Neither one knowing what to say. How to fix this. Finally, John couldn’t take her cries anymore.

“Look Abi, I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean…er well…it was uncalled for.”

Abigail just shrugged weakly and kept her gaze down, “I agreed, didn’t I?”

John was at a loss for words. “Well…ya but we didn’t actually mean….”

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Anyway, I’m just sorry okay?”

“It ain’t me that needs your sorry John. It’s Jack. You should be apologizing to him. _We_ should be apologizing to him. I can’t believe we would ever say…” she trailed off and wiped a few stray tears from her cheek.

John didn’t know what to say. She was right. Jack was blameless and yet he was the one suffering.

“How did this happen John. How did we get here?” Abigail asked sadly.

John rubbed the back of his neck nervously, not quite sure how to answer her.

“Look Abi, it’s just that I…I…well, shit I don’t know! It’s like you get all worked up then you come at me and then…I get all worked up! Then it’s just…ugh, I don’t know! It’s like all we know how to do no more is yell at each other.”

“I know…” Abigail agreed sadly.

She took a deep breath before continuing.

“It’s just…raising a child alone is so damn hard. I’m just so tired John. It’s like all I am now…my only purpose is to just to be a mother. Sometimes I don’t even feel like me anymore. Not the me that I used to be. The gang don’t look at me the same no more, you…don’t look at me the same no more. And I know it ain’t Jack’s fault, I know it. But I just can’t stop myself from thinking how things would be if he never…if we didn’t…you know. And it makes me feel like such a monster,” she finished with a whimper and sobbed quietly into her hands.

“Abi…”

She looked up at him with such broken eyes it nearly made John fall to his knees.

“And I know you hate me for…for what I put you through,” she choked out through tears. “But dammit John I don’t know what else to do! I don’t know how to carry this burden by myself. I’m sick of being seen as the nagging mother who’s constantly having to chase down the father of her son. So, I know you hate me and I guess I’ve just learned to live with that. But now our son is gonna hate me too…and that…I can’t…”

She broke down without finishing her sentence.

John finally gave in and fell to his knees in front of her. He pulled her hands from her face with a worried look. Abigail’s eyes stayed unfocused and cast towards an unknown spot on the ground.

“Ab, I don’t hate you and you are not a monster. You’re an amazing mother and Jack loves you with all his heart. He’s just upset right now but you–no, _we’ll_ make it up to him. He knows we didn’t mean it.”

Abigail’s head snapped up and anger flashed across her eyes. “Does he John? You’ve made it painfully obvious you want nothing to with him, even before he heard what we said today.”

“It…it ain’t like that Abigail.” John tried.

“Oh its not?” She asked angrily.

“No! Look, all this fighting, we gotta stop somehow. It ain’t good for us, or the boy.”

“So how do we fix this then John?” she asked desperately. “Are you finally gonna accept you’re a father so I don’t have to keep naggin’ you? Or do I just give up? Tell him you’re just another uncle in the gang as he grows up right in front you wondering why he ain’t got no daddy. You can’t have it in the middle John. He’s gettin’ old enough to ask questions now. And I can only lie to him for so much longer before he gets big enough and demands answers from you himself. Is that what you want? Is that how we stop this? We just pretend he ain’t yours until he grows up and finds out he’s been lied to his whole life? And when he asks why, we just say it was the only way to stop us from tearing each other’s throats out?”

“No! I…shit, I don’t know Abi! It feels like every choice I could make is wrong.” John rubbed at his face in frustration.

“How could choosing to be his father be wrong John? How?” She pleaded to him.

“Because what if I fuck up! What if I do something to him that I can’t fix? He’s just so…innocent, and perfect and kind, and the complete opposite of me. I don’t want him to be like me. He’s already so much better than I could hope for in a son, which is why I know he doesn’t _need_ me.”

Abigail froze at John’s words, finally, FINALLY understanding.

She lifted her hand to John’s uninjured cheek with the realization that John was _scared_. All this fuss, this running away from Jack was because he was goddamn scared.

“He does need you John. He already loves you so much and all this pushing him away is what’s hurting him. That’s what can’t be fixed. And…and I think you need him too.”

He shook his sadly. “I-I don’t know…”

“John, I question myself every god damn day if I’m doing the right things for that boy. It’s just this never-ending voice in the back of my head. I think that’s just part of being a parent. And it’s terrifying. You’re probably gonna question if what you’re doing as a father is right or not until the day you die. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try though. Doesn’t mean Jack ain’t worth the effort. And it doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to have a son.”

John looked up at her with a stunned expression. Their eyes met, both filled with such raw emotion.

His eyes showed a sudden realization and he opened his mouth to respond but stopped short when he saw a figure approaching them. A VERY pissed off figure.

Abigail noticed John’s gaze shift behind her and she turned to see Hosea approaching them. And…Jesus Christ, she has never seen that look on his face before.

“I have god damn had it with you John Marston!” the older man yelled as he grew nearer.

John gulped. This was not good. But he was surprised when Abigail sprang to her feet and got between the two men. Almost protecting John from Hosea’s wrath.

“Weren’t just him Hosea. We both said awful things, but we didn’t know Ja–”

“Oh, I am well aware. I’m aware that Jack heard both of his parents refer to him as a _mistake,_ I believe he said. But I can’t be too sure, it was hard to hear him through the sobs.”

“Shit Hosea. We…fuck. Is he okay?” John asked as he too stood up.

“Well it took damn near thirty minutes to get him slightly calmed down. Then I had to do everything I could to convince him that what he heard was not true and that he was a good boy because he was convinced you only said what you said because he was bad.”

Hosea took a moment to silently fume to the universe but neither John nor Abigail dared speak up.

Finally, he turned his attention back to them with a newfound anger.

“Maybe the two of you think he’s a mistake, or a burden, or just an unfortunate accident. But don’t you DARE allow him to think that way about himself, or let him know you feel that way. You both know damn well what its like growin’ up with a parent who saw you as nothing but a burden. So don’t you dare do that to your son.”

“Hosea,” Abigail pleaded to him. “You know we don’t feel that way. We we’re just being idiots. Very stupid idiots. We…we messed up bad. But we’re trying to fix it. Really fix it this time.”

“No,” Hosea practically yelled. “You two will not _try_ to fix this, you _will_ fix this. No more of this bullshit! I’m sick of it, the camp is sick of it, and that boy is sick of it. From now on you will talk about your problems like civilized adults. And if either one of you starts that yellin’ nonsense then you just walk away from each other until you can figure out how to talk to each other with some damn respect.”

John chose that moment to step up besides Abigail and wrap a comforting arm around her.

“We’re gonna fix this Hosea I promise. We don’t wanna fight no more. And I…I want to be a father to Jack. Proper. I swear it.”

Abigail turned in his arm to face him with a surprised look. “Oh John, you really mean that?”

“I…yes. I do. But I think I’m gonna need help. I don’t know how…”

Hosea studied the pair of them critically before letting his anger melt away.

“It’s alright John.” Hosea squeezed his shoulder. “As long as you’re willing, we’re gonna help ya. Right Abigail?”

She nodded her head with certainty. “Yes, anything.”

“Good. We might just make a proper family out of you yet. Maybe get you away from this mess and settled into a real home.”

John looked alarmed but Hosea waved at him before he could protest.

“That’s a conversation for another day though. Baby steps. Why don’t you two go see your boy now. I think Arthur’s got him in his tent.”

They both nodded and made their way back to camp.

When they reached Arthur’s tent they saw he had the boy sat on his lap while Arthur was showing him something from his journal.

As soon as she saw her son, Abigail’s eyes started to water. She knew they greatly hurt their boy and she wanted nothing more than to hold him close and tell him how sorry they were.

“Jack,” Abigail called with a weak voice.

The boy looked up and upon seeing his parents shrunk into himself slightly.

“Hi mama,” he said weakly.

Arthur lifted Jack off his lap and told him to go to Abigail.

As soon as he was in arm’s reach she lifted him up and held him tight to her. Jack laid his head on her shoulder.

John smiled sadly and cupped his hand on the back of the boy’s head and whispered, “Hey son.”

Jack turned to him and let out a meek, “Hi.”

It was obvious he was confused and was still thinking about what happened earlier.

“Thank you for watching him,” Abigail said to Arthur.

“Its no problem, really,” he responded kindly.

“Why don’t you take him to my tent. I’ll be there in a minute,” John said to Abigail.

She gave him a confused look but agreed and walked away.

As soon as they were out of earshot Arthur’s face turned murderous. “You’re a real piece of work you know that Marston? I can’t believe you’d say–”

“Arthur please,” John cut him off before the man could go any further.

“I don’t wanna talk about how I keep fuckin’ up. I…I want to fix this. For real this time. I want to be a father.”

“You…do?”

“I wanna try at least. I just don’t really know how. I was hoping maybe you could…give me some ideas?”

“What? You want me to?” Arthur asked confused.

“Ya? Look, I know you don’t like talkin’ about it. Or thinkin’ about it. But…”

Arthur’s confused face suddenly turned dark and John could see him clenching his jaw tight, knowing what John was alluding to.

“But, you’ve been a father before. You know what its like. I just figured if anyone could give me some advice it’d be you.”

Arthur let out a big sigh before nodding solemnly to himself. As much as he wanted to hate John for bringing up bad memories, he couldn’t be mad at him when he was asking for his help.

“Alright well…first piece of advice. Don’t ever fucking leave them. If something were to happen to them because you weren’t there, you’ll hate yourself for the rest of your life.”

“Arthur…” John pleaded. He hated seeing the man say such things. He knew he blamed himself for Eliza and Isaac’s deaths but John wanted nothing more than to shake him until he realized it wasn’t his fault.

“Next,” Arthur continued like he didn’t hear John. “Just do things with him. Small things like reading him a story at night or going on a walk with him and Abigail. You don’t need to make a grand gesture to show you care John. You just gotta be there.”

“Okay,” John nodded. “I can do that.”

“I would hope so,” Arthur chuckled. “And take care of that woman of yours. She’s been raising that boy and helping to keep this camp running for years. She needs taking care of too. You gotta work on your relationship with her outside of caring for Jack.”

“Okay,” John repeated. “Um, any ideas for that too?”

Arthur rolled his eyes but smirked at John’s willingness to ask for help.

“Again John, little things. Ask how her day is, watch Jack for an hour or two so she can get some time to herself for once. Tell her ‘thank you’ for all that she does for you and your boy. And for Christ’s sake take her out every once in a while, on a proper date. Plenty of people here in camp can watch Jack while you two have a night out. ‘Sides, we’d rather babysit Jack while you two go have a nice time together, than babysit him so you’s can scream at each other.”

“Okay, I…I can do that too. Thanks Arthur. Um, I better go see Jack now.” John tried to leave quickly, not wanting to waste any more of the man’s time. He’s pretty sure this is the longest civil conversation they’ve had in years and he didn’t want to jinx it. John knew Arthur never really forgave him for leaving so he just tried to stay clear of the man so as to not be subject to his antagonizing.

John turned to leave but Arthur yelled, “Wait!”

John turned back around to look at his brother and he swore it’s the first time in years Arthur hasn’t looked at him with complete disdain evident on his face.

“I…just…” Arthur started awkwardly. “I’m proud of ya. You’re doing the right thing, and Jack and Abigail will be lucky to have ya if you keep your head straight. And, I swear I’ll stop giving you a hard time about you leaving. I won’t mention it no more. Let’s just let the past be the past. Okay?”

John was speechless. All he wanted was for people to stop treating him like a fuck up. He wanted to move on from his mistakes. He’d be lying if he didn’t say Arthur treating him like shit since his return didn’t sting the most out of everyone in camp. Besides Abigail that is.

“I…Thank you.”

Arthur nodded to him and they shared their first genuine smiles with each other since before John left the gang.

John left Arthur and went to his tent. When he entered, he saw Abigail sitting on his cot with Jack in her lap. He could hear Jack sniffling as he cried quietly, while Abigail made shushing noises and swayed him back and forth.

He took a deep breath and sighed then went to sit next to them. He looked down at Jack and wrapped a comforting arm around Abigail to pull them closer to him. Abigail let him, and she leaned her head into his.

He laid his other hand on Jack in comfort and they sat in silence for a few minutes while they let the boy cry it out.

Eventually he sniffled and looked up to Abigail. “Mama?”

“Hm?” Abigail hummed.

“Am…am I mistake?”

John’s heart clenched and Abigail immediately squeezed the boy tighter and nearly yelled, “No!”

She took a second to calm down and relax her grip on the boy.

“No Jack. That was very wrong of us to say that. It’s just that…sometimes people say things they don’t mean when they’re really angry. And I’m so sorry you heard us say that. You ARE NOT a mistake Jack. You are a blessing, and being your Ma is something I would never ever give up. Not for the whole wide world. I love you so much.”

Jack took a second to process her words before he slowly wound his arms around his mother as much as he could and said, “I love you too, Mama.”

John held Abigail closer to him as he felt her tremble with emotion.

“Jack…come here son.” John held his free arm out and Abigail helped the boy shift into his lap.

Once he had him, John held his family nice and tight to him.

“I’m so sorry you heard me say those awful things. Your Pa…well he can be a real idiot sometimes.”

He heard Abigail jokingly scoff next to him.

“Okay, maybe a lot of the time,” he huffed but smiled.

“And I know I ain’t been the best father to you, but I want to be. I’m gonna try real hard to do better for you and your ma from now on. But, you might have to be a little patient with me. I’m…well I’m kind of a slow learner,” he laughed dryly.

He was suddenly reminded of the paper he picked up earlier and put in his jacket.

With a little maneuvering he pulled it out and held it in front of Jack.

“Did you draw this?” John asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Jack nodded. “Ya, it was for you and mama.”

“Well ain’t that just the best picture I ever seen,” Abigail grabbed the other side of the drawing to inspect it.

“Sure is,” John agreed. “Thank you, son. We love it.”

“It’s not as good as Uncle Arthur’s drawings,” Jack said sadly.

“I would much rather have one of your drawings, than one of Uncle Arthur’s,” John told him.

“Really?” Jack asked.

“Really.”

Jack looked up at John with his big childlike eyes and without warning threw his arms around John’s neck and buried his head into his neck.

“I love you Pa,” he whispered.

John let out a shaky breath before gripping his son tight and pressing his head down into Jack’s brown hair and whispering back, “I love you too son.”

The small family held each other in comfortable silence for a while longer. Slowly mending their emotional wounds.

After a while, John spoke up. “So…um how about we all go for a walk?”

Jack nodded his head eagerly and Abigail gave him a confused, yet happy look before also agreeing.

They walked down the sandy beach along the lake together. At one point John slipped his hand into Abigail’s as they watched their son happily explore their surroundings with a big smile on face. They even stopped for a while so John could show Jack how skip rocks.

Later that night John suggested they bring Abigail and Jack’s bedrolls into his tent. He even set up his own bedroll next to theirs instead of sleeping on his cot. He also nailed Jack’s drawing to one of the posts inside his tent. Making sure it was always on display.

To Abigail’s delight John read a story with Jack before the three of them settled down for bed. Jack was nestled comfortably between his parents and was out in minutes.

John watched in the dim light as Abigail stared at their son with a soft smile and stroked Jack’s hair absentmindedly.

“Thank you,” he whispered to her.

“For what?” she whispered back without looking up.

John took a deep breath to steady himself.

“Hosea, Dutch, Arthur, they all say a child is a gift. A treasure that shouldn’t be taken for granted. And here you’ve given me a son, and well…I’m still learning how to appreciate him proper, but until then I guess I’ll just say…thank you. I know he’s a gift, even if I’m too stupid to see it yet. Even if I…don’t think I deserve it.”

“You’ll get there John, I know it.” Abigail leaned over and gave John the sweetest kiss they’ve shared in a long time.

John smiled and wrapped his arm over his family. He felt Abigail lay her arm over his and Jack turned and snuggled into his father’s chest before letting out a content sigh and falling back into a deep sleep.

And in that moment all John could think was, _Why the hell was I so afraid of this?_

For the first time in years he felt completely at peace. Like the whole world and its problems didn’t even exist.

His last coherent thought before drifting off was, _I could get used to this._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed! Anyways I like to think that after this they decide to leave the gang earlier than in the game. And they convince Hosea, and Arthur, and all the other good eggs to join them and they live on a ranch happily ever after :)
> 
> One can only hope right?
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated and make my day! Thank you!


End file.
